One nice thing about living in a smallish town, is that the people who work at the places you frequent become “friends”. Sure, they’re not coming over for dinner, but they’ve already started making your order before you’ve fully walked through the door. They ask you about your son, your dog, your house remodel. They are just intimate enough to make you feel special when you frequent their establishment.

There’s one place in town we like to go for a quick breakfast, and the owner is a guy we’ve known for a few years now. What surprised me about him a few years ago was that he was the first non-friend or family member to comment on my first pregnancy. Usually people are cautious when it comes to asking about that, you know? I mean, the last thing you want to do is accidentally call a woman fat!

Nevertheless, he asked if I was pregnant, and luckily for him (haha!) I was. When our son was born he gifted us with free breakfast and as watched as our child has gone from a squishy newborn to a toddler who runs around grabbing bags of coffee off his shelves.

So it really shouldn’t have surprised me when he asked again if I was pregnant a few weeks ago. I am, and since it’s the second time around I’m showing much faster than I did the first time, but I was still surprised. I guess all that coffee gives him nerves of steel!

It’s comforting, though, to know that he and his employees will be there when this baby is born, ready with my chai in hand before I even get in the door. Something that will be VERY appreciated as we go through that newborn no-sleep period again. It’s nice to have people in town like that.